Schools reminded to enter Action Aid Writing Competition

Athlone Advertiser, Thu, Jan 04, 2018

Students in Westmeath are being reminded to submit their entries into the ActionAid Speech Writing Competition.

The competition is aimed at secondary school students aged 14 to 17. ActionAid has already had a lot of interest from students across the country and hopes for more entrants from Westmeath before the January 19 deadline.

The top eight students from around the country will be invited to Dublin in March, 2018 to deliver their speech in front of an esteemed panel of judges.

The first prize is a visit to Brussels in June, 2018 for the top two students and their teachers, where they will engage with members of the European parliament and Civil Society Organisations active on women’s rights, youth and development. The visit will give students and teachers first-hand exposure of advocating for a fairer world at a European level.

There are three topics to choose from relating to ActionAid’s Irish Aid funded women’s rights programme and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG ), which provide the international framework for a fairer world. ActionAid is hoping entrants will come up with innovative and creative speeches, with a global view.

Topics include: The sustainable development goals will make the world fairer by 2030; Goal 5 of the sustainable development goals - “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” - is the most important goal for long term development; Gender equality should be a part of every one of the sustainable development goals.

Siobhán McGee, CEO of ActionAid Ireland, said: “We have had great feedback on the competition every year that we have run it, with some students fostering a lifelong interest in development through the research that they conduct. The final is a fantastic occasion for all involved and a great opportunity for young people to gather and meet others who share a similar interest in international development.

"The prize on offer this year presents a marvellous opportunity to any young person looking to learn a little more about the day-to-day work involved in aid and development projects at the European level.”